Warmth
by BunniesOfDoom
Summary: After the events of the 57th expedition beyond the walls, Eren and Mikasa find solace in each other.


**Set after the first encounter with the female titan, so spoilers up to that point. First time writing for this fandom, so please be gentle with me!**

 **Can be interpreted as Eren/Mikasa (that's how I view it), but also can be seen as just friendship.**

 **Inspired by a drabble in Shingeki no Fluff and by the oneshot Stolen Moments, which are both written by the amazing Levi Ackerman. Definitely check them out!**

* * *

Shock and grief practically radiate off the members of the Survey Corps as they slowly approach their headquarters. Everyone trudges forward in silence, faces full of horror and sorrow. Eren hastily sits up as they approach the castle, despite his lingering weakness, and scrubs his face furiously, eager to erase any traces of tears. No one here would judge him for crying, not after what happened today, but Eren is still eager to hold on to what little pride he has left.

Next to him, Mikasa sighs and shifts her weight, attempting to sit up a little straighter, and withdrawing the hand that she'd been carding through his hair. He instantly misses the contact. She looks down at Eren, expecting him to yank his hand away and insist that he's fine. He doesn't, though. Instead, he grips her hand a little tighter and laces his fingers through hers. She smiles, just barely, and squeezes his hand in return. It's meant as a comforting gesture, but Eren jerks his head up so that his gaze meets her, and the amount of despair in his brilliant green eyes frightens her. His usual passionate fire is completely dulled by grief, and she doesn't know how to fix it.

"It's going to be okay," she murmurs, voice barely a whisper. She knows that placating words will do nothing right now, but she'll be damned if she does nothing to help him. Eren doesn't respond, and she can't think of anything she could possibly say, so they approach the castle in deafening silence, hands linked. _He's safe_ , she thinks to herself. _You didn't lose him today._

* * *

"Are you feeling any better?" Mikasa asks gently as they approach his dungeon bedroom. She'd practically had to carry him down here, and he's still leaning heavily against her. It's another reason that she hates these titan powers of his: seeing what they do to his body, how absolutely exhausted transforming leaves him.

Eren just nods blankly, because if he opens his mouth to speak right now, he'll just start screaming and never stop. And he'll start crying again. He's cried enough in front of her already today.

She doesn't seem convinced, and Eren can see that she's frowning slightly now, obviously worried. Fortunately, she doesn't press the issue, sensing Eren's current reluctance to speak. "Are you going to be okay down here by yourself?" she asks instead, continuing to support Eren as they make their way across the room to his bed.

He bites his lip. The basement seems noticeably colder and lonelier tonight, but he's already been weak enough in front of her already. He can't possibly ask her to stay. So instead he just nods, collapsing gratefully onto his bed.

Mikasa frowns again, and pauses for a moment before reluctantly making her way across the room to the door. "Goodnight, Eren," she calls softly over her shoulder, before stepping out and closing the door behind her.

Outside, it's started to storm, and he can hear the rumble of thunder and the pounding of the rain. It's raining hard, as if the skies themselves are weeping for the losses they suffered today. Sighing loudly, he attempts to make himself comfortable. At least he's exhausted enough that he should fall asleep quickly; despite having slept for most of the way back, his head still feels heavy and his entire body aches.

He soon falls into a restless, uneasy sleep.

* * *

And then jolts awake yelling at the top of his lungs, Petra's terrified screams ringing in his ears and Gunther's dead body flooding his vision. Even the realization that it was a nightmare doesn't help this time, because Eren knows better. The horror and gore and destruction isn't just his imagination, it's real, it's already happened, and there's no escaping that fact. It's immutable. _They're dead because you sat back and did nothing._

Judging by the fact that his body still feels like it's made of lead, he hasn't been asleep very long. An hour, maybe, at most. He groans, rolling over. _Good luck getting back to sleep after that._

He jerks upright in surprise when his arm brushes up against something that is definitely not a pillow, letting out a shout of surprise, and nearly smacks his face into Mikasa's side. She's perched on the side of the bed next to his left shoulder, eyes fixed on his face. "Mikasa?" he asks blearily, utterly confused. "What are you doing down here?"

One side of her mouth twitches up in a small smirk as she effortlessly dodges Eren's startled flailing. She places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I was just checking up on you," she explains.

Apparently she's not willing to admit to being a creeper who watches him sleep. "You didn't need to do that," he points out, sitting up and arranging himself so that they're shoulder to shoulder. "You saw for yourself that I was fine."

There's a hint of emotion lurking behind her usual blank mask—uncertainty, maybe? She looks down at her hands for a second, seemingly thinking about something. Eren idly considers telling her to leave and let him sleep, but she seems so _vulnerable_ right now, and Mikasa is never vulnerable.

His reverie is interrupted by arms wrapping tightly around him. Mika clutches him to her, burying her face in his collar bone. He's startled to notice that she's trembling. "Mikasa, what—"

She cuts him off, speaking quietly into his chest, voice barely a murmur. He has to strain to hear what she says. "I almost lost you today." She turns her cheek to his chest, and he's confused for a minute before it hits him: she's listening to his heartbeat.

He doesn't remember much of what happened after he transformed, but he has a few brief, hazy memories after the female titan tore his head off. The sheer amount of grief in Mikasa's voice, the utter despair on her face. He brings his arms up to return her embrace, settling his arms around her back. "But you didn't," he points out soothingly. "You rescued me and brought me back, remember?" He's proud that he manages to say it without a hint of resentment in his voice. After all, pride means nothing when Mikasa is this upset.

"Barely," she responds. "And I had to have _Captain Levi's_ help to do it."

Eren snorts softly at the scorn in her voice when she mentions the captain's name. He doesn't remember when he starting running his hands through her hair, or when he pulled her tighter to him. Her warmth pushes away the icy chill of loss and grief.

"I don't mean to make you angry," Mikasa whispers. "I just—I can't bear to lose you too."

"I know," he murmurs in response. Really, he's always known it. It just became unbearable sometimes, always having to be the one protected by her. "I'm sorry," he whispers into her hair. He doesn't specify what for, but he doesn't need to. Mikasa doesn't respond, but he knows that she understands.

They drift off to sleep easily, still wrapped in each other's arms.

* * *

Fortunately, Armin is the one to come wake them up in the morning. He doesn't comment on finding them tangled up together, except to promise that he won't tell anyone. The wide grin on his face, however, suggests that the two of them are never going to hear the end of this.

"I'm going to kill him," Mikasa mutters under her breath.

Eren reluctantly slips out of her arms and stands up, groaning and stretching. "We'd better get ready, or Captain Levi will kill _us_."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


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